Economists’ reacted on Friday to President Thabo Mbeki’s opening of Parliament and State of the Nation speech.
Dennis Dykes, chief economist at Nedcor, said: “I agree with the president on the need for implementation.Most orthodox economists agree that the broad framework is in place, it is now just a question of applying it in practice.”
Absa economist John Loos said: “Most of us economists really look more into the Budget speech than the State of the Nation speech by the President of South Africa, Thabo Mbeki. One does not really expect something drastic to come out of this speech honestly as it is seen a celebration and promotion of government’s achievements for the past years, unlike the Budget speech.”
Mike Schussler, economist at Tradek, remarked: “I think it was a good reflection of where South Africa has come from and where we are going. It is going to ease a lot of fears in the market about possible changes to the Constitution and it is a very important speech as such.” — I-Net Bridge